The long full days of summer at the Ranch are filled with the near constant hum of activity – from haying to putting up fences to moving cattle to hauling water troughs to fixing and mending and updating what time and weather and nature erodes. But the winter days at the Ranch have a much calmer pace. Early mornings are for checking on the herd and breaking up any ice in the water trough. And most afternoons the cattle are fed hay. Gabe plugs in the tractor to warm it up and heads out to roll out a few bales in the snow. It has a comforting, methodical rhythm that is fitting for the short days. Each year just as we start to tire of unwrapping yet another bale in the daily feeding routine, spring arrives and it is time to let the cattle out to pasture. And we are off and running again. Until then, the days continue to inch longer and we are enjoying the more simple and still winter existence.